The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Strongest in Our Neighborhood (49)
Count Yohansen continued speaking as he watched the shock cross Jang Ga-in’s face.
“Since ancient times, empires and kingdoms have often granted autonomy or lordship to tribes living in areas they couldn’t conquer due to harsh terrain or monster populations, recognizing their independence. The Crelarion Mountain Range is too treacherous and infested with monsters for humans to occupy, so if you could represent that region, why not become its lord and exercise dominion?”
“Me, a lord? Hmm! That’s quite a clever move. If I become lord of the Crelarion Mountain Range, mercenaries and hunters won’t be able to enter my domain freely.”
“Exactly. Once the kingdom publicly declares the Crelarion Mountain Range as your domain, mercenaries and hunters would be breaking the law if they entered without permission.”
“Then I shall become lord of the Crelarion Mountain Range.”
At Jang Ga-in’s reply, Count Yohansen let out a soft chuckle.
“It doesn’t work by speaking a few words. Fundamentally, you must be recognized as lord by the various tribes and settlements living in the mountains, and you must exercise real authority over them. And once that’s accomplished, I, who’ve been tasked with protecting the kingdom from monsters in the Crelarion Mountain Range, will present your case to His Majesty for official recognition.”
……
“After that, royal inspectors will come to conduct a formal investigation, and they’ll decide whether to officially recognize you as lord.”
After hearing the count’s words, Jang Ga-in paused before speaking.
“If I fail the inspection, I won’t be recognized as lord?”
“If you fail, that would be the case.”
“But what if I declare the Crelarion Mountain Range my domain and slaughter every hunter and mercenary who enters?”
“Then a Subjugation Force would be organized to kill you.”
“Count, I entered the Demon Realm and killed high-ranking demons and hundreds of Demonic Beasts and Creatures. To capture someone like me, wouldn’t they need to commit more than half the kingdom’s full military strength?”
As Jang Ga-in smiled with subtle mockery, Count Yohansen let out a rueful laugh.
“I’ll make sure to warn the inspection team thoroughly about your capabilities. If they don’t want to see the kingdom fall, they’ll recognize you as lord of the Crelarion Mountain Range.”
“With your support, Count, I should be able to become lord of the Crelarion Mountain Range.”
“Right. No matter how foolish the central bureaucrats are, they won’t be stupid enough to make a Master their enemy and destroy the kingdom.”
“Surely the kingdom won’t collapse just from becoming my enemy?”
“I’ve faced a Master in battle before and experienced firsthand how powerful one can be. But looking at all these Demonic Beasts and Creatures lying here, you seem even stronger than the Master I once knew.”
“To have faced a Master in battle and still be alive suggests you were quite formidable in your youth.”
“It wasn’t strength—I was lucky. And I learned then that a single Master could change the course of an entire battlefield. I’m not sure about you alone, but if you were to unite the various tribes of the Crelarion Mountain Range and attack… I honestly couldn’t assure you that my sons would hold Greywan.”
“Aren’t you taking this to extremes?”
“One must always assume the worst. And that’s precisely why you need to become lord of the Crelarion Mountain Range.”
“I suppose my first task is to unite the various tribes of the Crelarion Mountain Range.”
“That’s right.”
“I understand. Once I return to the Crelarion Mountain Range, I’ll summon the representatives of all the tribes and settlements and hear their views before making a decision.”
“Do so. Hah, a new lord of the Crelarion Mountain Range. If this works out well, you and my sons can cooperate to efficiently eliminate the monsters there. Once that happens, the people of the domain will live far safer and more prosperous lives.”
Jang Ga-in wore a peculiar expression watching the count laugh heartily.
‘Once freed from the demon’s miasma, people really do change. Perhaps he became the kingdom’s border count because this is who he truly was.’
However long he had left to live, he sensed this would be a man worth maintaining good relations with.
* * *
“Master! I trust you’ve been well?”
Layla rushed toward her teacher Alengd Mir with both arms open.
“Heh, even as you grow older, you’re still so childlike.”
“Compared to you, Master, I’m still a child.”
“Even Bidla, who’s five years younger than you, recently brought a girl home to marry. When are you going to marry?”
“Bidla brought a girl home? That fellow’s always been shy with women. How did he manage?”
“Even if he’s shy, he’s handsome. And now that his magic has reached the Zelato-class, he’s become quite popular with noblewomen, I hear.”
“Hmm, Bidla is handsome, I suppose.”
“Don’t you have noblewomen in this domain who fancy you? Your Mana suggests you’ll soon surpass the Neo-class and reach the Zelato-class.”
“I’ve been too focused on magical research to have time to meet women.”
“If you keep studying magic like that, you’ll end up like me—an old bachelor.”
“That’s my dream, Master—to age like you.”
“What a dreadful dream!”
“Why? Didn’t you once tell me that living alone was ideal for magical research?”
“It is ideal for research, but as I’ve aged, I’ve sometimes thought I’m not truly happy.”
“I am happy.”
“You feel that way now. But later, you’ll be lonely.”
“Loneliness is something I can overcome easily enough.”
“It’s not the sort of thing you can overcome. Though I suppose when I was your age, I wouldn’t have listened to my Master either. Anyway, where is the high-ranking demon’s corpse?”
“It’s in the laboratory.”
“Then let’s go to the laboratory at once.”
“Yes.”
Moments later, when Layla retrieved the corpses of Sbalwain and Jackpri from the laboratory, Alengd Mir’s eyes widened.
“Based on the bat wings, horns, and the mixed appearance of canine and human features, these are Adrammelech’s servants. This one is a Zelato-class high-ranking demon, and this one is Neo-class. I couldn’t face a Zelato-class alone myself… so this Jang Ga-in must be quite an extraordinary master.”
“The Neo-class demon opened a gate and fled to the Demon Realm, but he pursued them, killed hundreds of Demonic Beasts and Creatures, and captured them—so he’s a master of considerable strength.”
Hearing his student’s account, Alengd Mir’s expression filled with disbelief.
“Hundreds of Demonic Beasts and Demonic Creatures slain in the Demon Realm? Even for a Master-class warrior, the miasma saturating the air would have made it nearly impossible to perform at full strength.”
“I accompanied Lord Ga-in into the Demon Realm myself and recovered the corpses of the Demonic Beasts and Creatures, so there is not a shred of exaggeration in the account.”
“The Demon Realm is somewhere I have yet to visit myself. So you’ve been there—a valuable experience indeed. Was the miasma concentration truly so dense?”
“At first, the density was so overwhelming it felt like drowning in water.”
“And your magic—did it function properly?”
“I tested a few simple spells, and honestly, they were far more potent there than they are here.”
“Ah! Fascinating. There are theories that magic was passed down from dragons, and others that it came from the Demonic folk. If the mana strengthens in the Demon Realm, then the theory of demonic origin cannot be dismissed lightly.”
“When you observe Dark Mages and Necromancers, the theory that magic originated from the Demonic folk seems far more persuasive.”
“Yet Spirit Magic and Holy Magic share so many similarities with White Magic that the dragon theory cannot be entirely discounted either. But tell me—why does this Neo-class Demonic creature have nothing but a skull and horns left?”
“Ah, that’s because Lord Ga-in tamed a Giant Saber-tooth Tiger, and that beast devoured the rest.”
“Tamed a Giant Saber-tooth Tiger? A Giant Saber-tooth Tiger exceeds ogres—it’s a top-tier monster. Can such a creature even be tamed?”
Layla’s master tilted his head in bewilderment, prompting a wry smile from the young mage.
“I watched it myself, and it obeyed his commands as docilely as a housebroken dog, tail and all.”
“After being away so long, nothing I hear feels credible. Though I suppose the corpse of a Zelato-class Demonic creature before me is equally unbelievable. So where is this formidable Lord Ga-in?”
“He said he’d be at the tomb grounds of House Yohansen today, selling the corpses of Demonic Beasts and Creatures brought from the Demon Realm to various craftsmen and merchants, so he should be there.”
“Demonic Beasts and Creatures make excellent materials for chimera construction. Let’s head over and meet this Lord Ga-in.”
“Yes, I’ll show you the way.”
Master Alengd Mir unfurled his robe and swept the corpses of the Demonic creatures into the Robe Subspace. Layla’s eyes widened.
“Master, the Robe Subspace seems far larger than it was before!”
“I gained a small Enlightenment regarding spatial manipulation not long ago, allowing me to expand the subspace twofold.”
“An Enlightenment? Does that mean you’ve reached the threshold of seventh-rank?”
“If my Enlightenment were of such magnitude as to approach seventh-rank, I would hardly call it small. It was merely a modest Insight into spatial phenomena.”
“Even so, it seems you’ve taken a considerable step forward toward seventh-rank.”
“Still a long way off. Come now—let’s go meet Lord Ga-in.”
* * *
Jang Ga-in watched with mild curiosity as the men Yuria Millay, the second son of House Yohansen, had brought along skillfully negotiated with merchants and craftsmen representatives.
‘The Earl said he’d lend his support and I accepted readily enough, but I never expected him to send his second son to help in this manner.’
He’d thought the Earl would simply send soldiers to secure the perimeter, yet Yuria Millay’s men were haggling with merchants over the Demonic Beast and Creature corpses, securing favorable prices for the grain and weapons Jang Ga-in had requested.
“Lord Millay, how does a nobleman of your station come to possess such keen mercantile acumen?”
Jang Ga-in tilted his head in question, and Yuria Millay flashed a rueful grin.
“My older brother showed exceptional martial talent from childhood, but I—curiously influenced by my mother’s side of the family—proved to have a knack for commerce. I branched out early to establish a modest trading venture, and it has since grown into a fairly substantial enterprise.”
“If the second son of the Earl runs a trading company, success was all but guaranteed.”
Jang Ga-in nodded in understanding; he’d witnessed similar arrangements often enough in the Central Lands.
“Lord Ga-in!”
At that moment, the mage Layla appeared alongside her master.
Alengd Mir, Layla’s teacher, arrived at the tomb grounds of House Yohansen and was struck with astonishment at the mountain of Demonic Beast and Creature corpses piled before him. Watching them rapidly disappear onto merchant carts sent a spike of urgency through his chest.
‘That—that’s a Sandworm! If those teeth came from a Sandworm caught in the Demon Realm, they’d shatter a knight’s armor like brittle candy—wait. No. It’s nearly all gone. Only one remains!’
Some merchants, recognizing the Sandworm’s value, even tested its teeth with their blades.
“Layla, where is Lord Ga-in?”
“That person speaking with Lord Millay is Lord Ga-in.”
“And who is this Lord Millay?”
“That person speaking with Lord Ga-in is Lord Millay. Lord Ga-in!”
Layla called out loudly, and Jang Ga-in’s head turned toward the pair.
“Go introduce me to Lord Ga-in at once.”
“Yes, Master. But why are you in such a hurry?”
“Time is short. That final Sandworm—I must have it.”
“Ah, the Sandworm. Understood.”
Moments later, Jang Ga-in was introduced to Layla’s master and, moved by his earnest appeal, sold him the Sandworm and most of the remaining Demonic Beasts and Creatures.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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